


Hero of the Illusory Land

by Cloy552



Category: Touhou Project, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Channeler Izuku, Crossover, Gen, Meiling is not useless, Meiling is terrible at Danmaku, Remilia geeks out over Manga, Weather Manipulator Kogasa, Yukari's messing with boundaries again
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-05-06 10:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14639598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloy552/pseuds/Cloy552
Summary: Izuku was not having a good day.Sometimes that's all it takes for things to change.Other times someone just needs a few more helpful nudges in the right direction.While Touhou knowledge might help you recognize the charactes, I plan on explaining their powers at the end of chapters they are used in so it shouldn't be required





	1. Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku was not having a good day.   
> Sometimes that's all it takes for something to change.   
> Other times it just takes a couple more nudges in the right direction.

Midoriya Izuku was not having a good day.

 

His mother had reminded him several times that she had to work late today and he still managed to leave his keys locked in the apartment, only realizing it too late. Then, as if that wasn't enough, his teacher had been going over future careers and had decided to call him out on planning to apply to U.A., which lead to the rest of the class ridiculing him and set Kacchan off. Again. He had assumed the original explosions would have been the end of it.

 

Unfortunately it was not. An hour after the incident Izuku was alone, wandering the nearby forest and muttering to himself again.

 

“Honestly! Does Kacchan even think before he says things? If I had actually listened to him he'd never be able to get into U.A. or any other hero school! He'd have to try some more roundabout way and...” Izuku continued to mutter to himself without paying attention to his surroundings. Due to his focused muttering he did not see the small tears in the air slowly redirecting his meandering path towards a new destination.

 

As his muttered rant on that subject ended he heard the voices of a nearby argument

 

“-way it will work, no one-”

He was getting closer

“-someone were to show up?”

Maybe it wasn't an argument? The first voice didn't sound very happy though...

“What are you up to now Yukari?”

At that moment, Izuku managed to break through the foliage into a clearing with a dilapidated shrine. The Torii seemed to have been split down the middle of the arch and the shrine itself seemed to be falling into itself.. except for one… slice?

 

Izuku blinked and rubbed his eyes. Nope, it was still there – set between two red ribbons was a slice of plain grass, no shrine, no pieces of shrine. The voices hadn't stopped either. The first sounded accusatory while the second – Yukari?- was teasing.

 

As he turned to look for the voices, he noticed that the area without the shrine seemed to… change? He stepped to the side and – there it goes again…  
“Interesting… some kind of perception altering quirk? The trees aren't the same and it looks like it might be autumn by their leaves...” He began to mutter while continuing to walk around the… lens?… Yes for now he would consider it a lens, and writing in his burned notebook.

 

His focus on this new 'quirk' to analyze distracted him from the fact that the voices had stopped talking until he reached the opposite side of the lens and found himself looking at two people and a far more intact shrine.

 

One appeared to be a girl around his age, if not a little older, with brown hair. Her narrowed brown eyes made it seem like she was dealing with something troublesome, a puffed up red ribbon on top of her head along with similarly colored tubes framing her face, and her outfit looked like some kind of overly embroidered shrine maiden... and detached sleeves? The only clothing that did not share her Red-White color scheme was her ascot, which was a vibrant yellow.

 

The other was an older looking lady, though possibly a few years younger than his mother with long blonde hair. Her purple eyes glowed with mirth, as though she'd just pulled off an impressive trick, a white mob cap with red string sitting on her head and a rather ornate dress of mainly white with cuffs and some type of tabard colored purple and red.

 

“A-ah! Good afternoon!” Izuku stammered, “I was just on a walk and I overheard some people talking and thought it sounded like an argument so I wanted to see if I could help but then there was this lens in front-” he continued to talk getting quieter and quieter as the girl turned a baleful look at the lady.

 

“You had something to do with this didn't you?”

“Me? Have something to do with this young boy arriving at this time, when I was trying to convince you of my idea that you kept complaining wouldn't work because we didn't have anyone to work with? Don't be silly!”

The girl's eyes narrowed further. She then whirled towards Izuku and pointed her stick - gohei? - at him, “What's your name kid?”

 

Izuku squeaked before replying, “Midoriya Izuku! Uhm… What was that about?”

 

Letting out a half sigh and starting to smirk the girl replied, “That, was that hag-”, she gestures towards the Lady who huffs indignantly, “-Yukari's latest plot, which she keeps insisting on having me help with, and I am Hakurei Reimu. Care for some tea?”

 

Izuku got the feeling that wasn't really a question...


	2. Explanations and a Test Drive (Featuring Kogasa)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!  
> This one ended up a lot longer than the previous chapter
> 
> Anyway, in order to make sure people can understand the various Touhou character's powers I'll be explaining them (or at least my understanding of them) in the end notes, and I'll do this every time a new one is introduced.

Izuku considered running. He figured it would be possible to get away into the forest to hide. Then it started to rain – he hadn't even noticed clouds gathering until the first drops fell on his head. The growing smirk on Yukari's face gave him the feeling she might have had something to do with it.

 

That thought drove him into a slight panic. He hadn't heard of any heroes that matched her description and if she wasn't a hero it wasn't likely she was legally allowed to use a quirk outside - especially if it-

 

“Hey, are you going to stand there mumbling in the rain all day, or are you going to come inside?” His stream of thought was interrupted by the Red-White's blunt question and he trudged towards them.

 

Once he walked through the lens, he found that it was no longer raining, he glanced behind himself and saw the dilapidated shrine still being pelted by rain. This sight did not last long as the lens seemed to close in on itself, becoming a small line in the air before vanishing entirely.  
  
The teasing voice of Yukari brought his attention back to the duo, “Now then, welcome to Gensokyo,” her smirk got even wider “You're not in Musutafu anymore.”

 

“...I'm not even sure why you're getting so pleased with yourself, but it's creepy so knock it off Yukari.” Reimu grumbled before she began to walk toward the shrine.

 

After the short trip inside the shrine Reimu excused herself to make tea while Yukari appeared next to the table and beckoned him over.

 

Then there was silence. Yukari seemed to be amusing herself just by smirking at him and Izuku was too nervous to comment on it. This continued until Reimu returned with the tea.  
  
While he was still worried about what the two wanted from him and where he was – if Yukari's statement was true – Izuku had to admit, Reimu made very good tea.

 

Eventually his curiosity outweighed his nervousness and he asked, “So… Miss Hakurei? What did you want with me? And what's this 'Gensokyo' Miss Yukari mentioned?”

 

Reimu groaned again “You'd be better off asking Yukari, she still hasn't told me what she actually wants me to do for this plan.”

 

Yukari's smirk turned into a full blown grin at this before she once again turned towards Izuku, “Yes it would probably be better to ask the mastermind~, and maybe be less casual about it too~ I am, after all, the Youkai sage Yakumo Yukari~.”

 

Izuku felt like he was starting to understand the miko's exasperation, “Ah… Ok then, Miss Yakumo would you mind telling me about Gensokyo, and this plan of yours?” He paused for a moment, “Youkai sage? Like the Youkai from myths?”

 

Her grin seemed to continue growing once again before she stated, “Oh yes. Exactly like those,” Izuku was pretty sure he could feel the temperature dropping, “Supernatural creatures of legend with all their otherworldly strength and mystical powers. The same creatures known for devouring humans and growing strong from their fear,” At this point Izuku was certain he'd have nightmares from the predatory look in her eye, “The same creatures so fearsome and unstoppa-”

 

At this point Reimu had clearly had enough as she had tossed a small charm straight into the middle of Yukari's face causing the older blonde to fall back. “I don't know why I expected better from her. Look… Izuku,” He finally flinched out of his terrified trance, “was it? While those old stories are mostly true, the main reason most youkai terrorized humans is that their existence is driven by faith. If no one believes in them then they'll stop existing and the more emotion people feel about a particular youkai or type of youkai the more powerful it becomes. In the past the easiest way for youkai to continue existing and grow in power was to terrorize people.” Izuku nodded starting to relax again despite the complaints coming from where Yukari had fallen and took out his notebook.

 

“Anyway, once science started providing answers that made it harder for youkai to gather power they started to panic and the Sages decided it would be best to put up a barrier to make sure they didn't die out. That barrier contains Gensokyo, which, as Yukari said earlier, is where you currently are.”

 

Izuku nodded once again, busily jotting down notes and Reimu continued, “In the most recent generation Gensokyo has implemented the Spellcard rules, which have helped keep the peace while also keeping Youkai fed and content. Now if Yukari's done being overdramatic hopefully she can explain what she wants.” The brunette gave a small kick to the blond, who sat up looking displeased at her treatment.

 

“Awww~, you're no fun Reimu~,” Yukari tittered to herself, “Well I suppose I should explain what I want from you~, You see, with the emergence of quirks in your world, many of the issues that caused Youkai to need to retreat to Gensokyo have begun to vanish,” Reimu seemed to mull these words over while Izuku listened with rapt attention, “Since Gensokyo is only so big and many of the youkai here end up rubbing each other the wrong way if they try to stretch their proverbial wings the other sages and I had an idea.” Reimu's eyes widened as something clicked in her head while Izuku continued to listen quietly.  
  
“So our plan was to reintegra-” Yukari began

“No.” Reimu interrupted her, “Out of the question”

“Why Reimu~, you didn't even let me finish!” The blonde continued to smile  
“I don't _need_ to let you finish! You're suggesting we just let those hyperactive idiots run rampant with no restraints!” Reimu gave her a baleful glare

“Not at all! Now let me finish before you get upset.” Yukari rubbed Reimu's head before narrowly avoiding another charm while turning back towards Izuku, “Now as I was saying, our plan was to slowly reintroduce the Youkai here to the outside world in a way that would stop them from, as Reimu put it, rampaging freely. Simply put, we'll use an anchor to allow them to visit that world and adjust to it without being able to freely influence it without working with said anchor.” Reimu still appeared apprehensive, while Izuku thought through this information.

 

He looked up from his notes, “That does seem like a safer way to do it if they are as strong as miss Hakurei seems to be implying. Then you want me to be this anchor somehow? But why? I'm just a quirkless Junior high student.”

 

Yukari gave a victorious smile, “Simple really, it's because you don't have an active quirk. I did some calculations-” Reimu's eyes narrowed at her, “purely theoretical calculations Reimu – when we first came up with the plan and found an issue with the anchoring system we had planned. When used on someone with a quirk unfit for it they would well…” She paused to think of the right word, “Mutate. Horribly. Most human's bodies aren't meant to hold that much power, it would be like forcing two quirks in one body. If the body was not adequately prepared it would likely shatter the person's mind and turn them into some kind of abomination.”

 

Izuku nodded, slowly, still confused and very worried. While Reimu continued to stare, unimpressed, at Yukari.

 

“As I was saying,” Yukari continued, “since I've been studying these quirks I've done some… research… and came to the conclusion that you would be an ideal candidate since you live in the area, are quirkless, and seem to be a moral individual considering your fascination with those heroes.” Izuku looked concerned.

“Yukari, you've really got to stop stalking people.” Reimu interjected

Yukari seemed to brush this off before continuing, “There's the whole quirk factor issue for quirks to work correct?” Izuku nodded, “Well since humans with low levels of quirk factor are quirkless you still have plenty of room to gain power without having to worry about the whole horrible mutation issue~! And working with this plan would give you access to many unique powers to try and use~ It'd be just like having your own quirk~!”, She finished her sales pitch and grinned at Izuku again.

 

Izuku's eyes widened and he leaned forward before he stopped himself and began to think about it. “It seems too good to be true… and there is the whole man-eating youkai issue, and I don't know how trustworthy she really is...” He began to mutter to himself once again, much to Yukari's amusement.

 

“Well if you're not sold on the idea then how about a trial run~” Yukari chimed before she seemed to rip a hole in the air next to her. A quick glance into the tear gave Izuku shivers at the multitude of eyes that stared back.

 

Yukari then reached through the rip and Izuku heard a small yelp coming simultaneously from the gap and from the other side of the wall behind him. Yukari pulled a young looking girl with teal hair, a large, eggplant colored umbrella, a blue-green shirt with poofy white sleeves, a long blue-green skirt, and red-blue heterochromia through the eye filled rip and sat the girl next to her. Reimu did not look amused. The new girl looked frightened.

 

“Kogasa why were you outside my shrine again?”

“U-um, I was...”

Yukari steamrolled past this conversation, “Well Izuku, this girl here is Tatara Kogasa. She's a Tsukumogami, and probably one of the most active Youkai when it comes to trying to surprise humans,” Kogasa perked up at this, “keyword being trying, she's not very good at it. I don't think I've ever met someone she's actually managed to surprise on purpose, though she does have a rather surprising variety of skills.” As Yukari continued her introduction Kogasa slumped lower and lower in her seat.

 

“Anyway,” Yukari stood up, plucked Kogasa with her and walked over to Izuku, “for our test drive I'll be binding Kogasa to you so that she'll be able to follow you around in the outside world for a bit. Her umbrella should come in quite handy for that sudden downpour and I'm sure the two of you will be able to get along. I'm sure she'll be on her best behavior and- there it's done, well, goodbye for now.” and with that Izuku found himself holding the large eggplant umbrella as he seems to fall through the floor. The last thing he heard before he found himself back at the abandoned shrine was the beginnings of a loud yell- “GODDAM-”

 

He glanced around for a second, taking note of his newest acquaintance, before he realized it was still raining and opened the umbrella. Turning back to the girl he noted that she was partially transparent. She gave an awkward smile as the rain fell through her before she stepped under the umbrella as well.

 

“Well… I guess we should go to my home then? I'm pretty sure my Mom should be home by now...”

“Ah, yes that sounds good...”

There was a long pause before Izuku continued, “Right… I guess… Follow me then?” and began walking back to town with the blue girl tailing him.

 

“So… What's… being a Youkai like?”

“It's… normal I guess? I'm usually pretty hungry I guess. How about being Human?”

“About the same? I think? Other than being hungry...”

Their stilted icebreakers continued for several minutes as they walked through town before they heard several sniffles and a loud sob. The two turned and saw a young girl crying under a small overhang.

 

Both Izuku and Kogasa rushed to the girl's side immediately, “Are you ok? What's wrong?” The two jolted and looked at each other before nodding and turning back to the girl who was looking at Izuku and his purple umbrella.

 

“I can't find my Mommy or Daddy!” The girl wailed.

 

“Don't worry we'll help you find them” Izuku grinned, Kogasa chimed in with an affirmation beside him.

 

The girl looked grateful but confused “We? You and your umbrella?”

 

Kogasa's eyes seemed to shine at this while Izuku's face scrunched in confusion before understanding dawned on him and he nodded to the girl while whispering to Kogasa “I don't think she can see you.”

 

Kogasa looked confused at this before her eyes lit up in recognition, “Ah! She can't see this body!”

 

It was once again Izuku's turn to be confused before he filed it away and turned back to the girl, “Alright. What are we looking for?”

 

Unfortunately, while the girl's description was useful, the downpour made visibility horrible and the trio did not have any luck finding the girl's parents. After a few minutes of this, and the rainfall getting harsher, Kogasa gave Izuku a determined look, “I want to deal with this but the ambient faith here isn't nearly as strong as it is in Gensokyo so I'll need your help for this, ok?”

 

Izuku, while confused, gave her an encouraging nod. She walked out in front of the umbrella and raised her arms to the sky while she closed her eyes. Izuku felt something warm bloom in his chest and as he instinctively raised the umbrella he heard her call out “Rainbow sign: Over the Rainbow!”

 

Izuku felt a bit dizzy as the warmth seemed to grow before flowing though the umbrella, the next thing he knew the rain had stopped and a beautiful rainbow had taken its place. Kogasa twirled to face him with a beaming smile and clasped her hands behind her back, “So? What do you think~?”

“It's amazing.” Izuku stated, wide eyed with shock

“Wow! What a pretty rainbow!” the girl chimed with glee.

 

Once the rain had dispersed, the trio quickly reunited the girl with her family. They thanked Izuku profusely before parting ways.

 

The rest of the walk home was filled with warm chatter between the two new-found friends.

 

“So what did you mean by this body?”  
“Oh! Well that Umbrella you're holding is my actual body, this one's sort of like a lure or fake body, I can turn the sensations I get from it on and off and even store it within myself. It's just easier to interact with people if you look like you're the same as them. Most youkai take human forms now anyway. Ah, speaking of human forms, that girl's dad reminded me of one of my friends from the Myouren temple! He had stripes and cat eyes and everything!”

“Quirks have caused humans to vary wildly in appearance and ability since they began to appear. I like analyzing them in my free time: they're really cool! Do you have any hobbies?”

“I generally try out lots of odd jobs so that I can be helpful whenever possible~! I'm really good at blacksmithing, and I can sew things really well, and I've been commended on my babysitting recently, and Miss Yuuka said I had a green thumb, and...”

 

As the two reached Izuku's home, they were greeted by Yukari.

 

“So did you enjoy your trial run? Would you like to work with us now?”

 

This time there was no hesitation.

“I'd love to!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!  
> Now for powers.  
> Yukari's ability is the "ability on the level of manipulating boundaries" the main way she uses this is her gaps (presumably Boundary between here and there", though she's also been able to extend the night indefinitely during the eternal night incident and her most infamous boundary is "Border between life and death" She's one of the biggest powers in Gensokyo (as well as one of the founders) and is powerful enough to have a 9 tailed fox as a shikigami, as well as her Shikigami being powerful enough to have her own shikigami. She's also ridiculously smart.
> 
> Kogasa's ability is listed as an "Ability on the level of scaring humans", though I believe that's from Akyuu's Perfect Memento in strictest sense, which also claims that Cameras steal souls. Anyway, Kogasa's spellcards tend to be based around weather manipulation and I really like weather report Kogasa so: Weather manipulation!


	3. Practice (Featuring Meiling)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meetings, a present, and an unfortunate confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn't get my Beta reader to look through it so my apologies for any grammar or spelling mistakes. Please tell me if you find any.

“Mom! I'm home! Also someone wanted to talk to you.” Izuku announced his presence as he entered the house.

 

His Mother, Midoriya Inko, poked her head out of the kitchen with a smile, “Ah, Izuku! I'm glad you're home. I was worried when I saw your keys on the table after you left. I ended up meeting this nice lady today who was trying to-”, Inko paused as she noticed the woman behind Izuku, “Oh Miss Yakumo! A pleasure to see you again! Please come in, I'll make some tea!”

 

“Why thank you Mrs. Midoriya. May I ask that you bring four cups instead of three? One of my companions should be along shortly and I would hate to cause more trouble for you than I already am.” Yukari gave a polite smile and bow as Izuku gawked.

 

“Certainly,” Inko responded, “Though I would like to discuss the matter some more before we reach a final decision.”

 

Izuku, Kogasa, and Yukari sat at the table while Inko prepared the tea. Before long the four were sitting around the table

 

“As I said earlier Mrs. Midoriya, some of my companions are going to be in town soon and I've been having trouble finding a place for them to stay.” Yukari paused in her explanation looking almost uncomfortable, “Some of them are rather rowdy but I can assure you I would make sure they'd be on their best behavior while they're here and would be happy to compensate you for any of their expenses or damages. It's something like studying abroad for them so I hope you would be willing to help give them this experience.” As she finished her explanation there was a low chime, before Yukari smiled once more and excused herself, “Please pardon me, I have to take this call.”

 

As Yukari left the room Inko turned to her son, “Izuku, before I agree to anything I wanted to be sure you would be ok with it. When we met earlier and she brought the idea up I thought it might be nice but I wanted to make sure you would also be fine with it.”

 

Izuku smiled softly and opened his mouth to respond when his mother let out a surprised squawk and Kogasa sighed in satisfaction. He turned to look and saw that Kogasa was no longer partially transparent.

 

“All done~” Yukari hummed as she re-entered the house.

 

“I – she – what?” Inko stumbled over her words as Kogasa drank her tea.

 

“Thank you for the tea Ma'am. It's delicious.” Kogasa beamed.

 

Izuku could only glare at Yukari who was far too smug to be innocent.

 

As Yukari sat back down she once again explained her plan to reintegrate Gensokyo with the outside world, though with much less drama.

 

The Midoriya Matron looked decidedly less sure now.

 

Izuku took a deep breath and began, “I think we should do it Mom.” He hesitated but at his Mother's patient look he continued, “Today, Kogasa and I helped someone. This little girl was lost and we were able to get her back to her parents. They looked so happy and I… I felt like I'd done something good and good, even if it really wasn't something huge.” He looked up smiling with unshed tears, “They looked at me like I was a hero.” His mother was also starting to tear up now and it looked like Kogasa wasn't far behind, “So please. Let them stay here.”

 

Inko was openly crying as she reached over to hug him, “Of course Izuku! If it'll make you happy then they can stay!”

 

The duo quickly became a trio as a crying Kogasa joined the hug and Yukari watched in amusement.

 

A short while later Yukari had excused herself, “I have to go now. I'll be back tomorrow after I finish the rest of my preparations I hope you don't mind if I leave Kogasa here for the night.” With that she vanished through one of her holes – she had called them gaps in her explanation -  leaving Kogasa with the Midoriyas.

 

The three talked for a while and watched the news – apparently All Might had been in town and caught some kind of sludge villain – before Inko got up to start dinner.

 

“Ah wait let me!” Kogasa hopped up as soon as she realized what Inko was doing.

 

“Eh?” Inko blinked in surprise, “I couldn't possibly have a guest make dinner please don't trouble yourself.”

 

“No no no, I was dropped off here at the last minute, the least I could do is make dinner!”

 

“It wouldn't be right to trouble you with chores when you've just arrived please don't worry about it.”

 

“It would be no trouble at all! Please let me help!”

 

“Why don't we all make dinner together?” Izuku chimed in

 

“Yes! That sounds great!” Kogasa cheered

 

“Well if she wants to then I suppose it will be fine.” Inko agreed.

 

The Midoriyas quickly learned that Kogasa had no idea how to work any of the electronic devices in the Kitchen.

 

“We don't really have this stuff in gensokyo! I mean I think the Moriya shrine might have some and maybe the Kappas but Sanae is scary and I don't think the Kappas like me...”

 

Despite her inexperience she was quick to learn and the three had no further issues. The rest of the night was passed peacefully in Musutafa.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Somewhere in Gensokyo blood red eyes opened and seemed to glow softly. A fanged grin appears just below them, “How interesting.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The next day Izuku got out of bed feeling content. He went to his closet to pick clothes for the day, opened it, and froze. There, in the back of the closet was one of Yukari's gaps, and through said gap he could see Reimu sitting at her table calmly sipping tea as she stared back at him unperturbed.

 

 

Izuku gave a short stilted nod of acknowledgment before looking down at himself, he wasn't sure whether or not to be embarrassed about his All Might pajamas but for now he was definitely leaning towards embarrassed.

 

“She didn't mention she was going to leave a gap in your house did she?”

 

Izuku shook his, now tomato colored, head.

 

“I have to grab something so I'll just leave you to that then.” Reimu shrugged, finished her tea and got up to leave.

 

Meanwhile Izuku crumpled to the floor from embarrassment. Sure All Might was great but the last time someone had seen his pajamas he'd been mocked for weeks!

 

He quickly grabbed the clothes he needed for the day before rushing to the bathroom.

 

When he returned to the living room he found Reimu sitting at the table next to an oversized Yin-yang themed ball she was absentmindedly rolling around. His mother appeared to be making breakfast in the kitchen so he sat down at the table as well.

 

He looked around before turning to Reimu to ask-

 

“If you're wondering, Kogasa went back to Gensokyo. She'll probably be back at some point but she was really insistent on working on some idea she came up with last night.”

 

Izuku slowly nodded, “Can you read minds or something?”

 

“What? No. What else would you be looking around and then asking me about?”

 

Inko brought breakfast to the table, and after eating, Izuku left for school.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Right. He'd forgotten. He hadn't actually given Kacchan the answer his childhood friend was demanding. Probably for the best he hadn't brought his analysis notebooks to school today. It wasn't like he could get away from Kacchan's glare during class, and the explosive boy's gang wouldn't let Izuku leave until he'd been threatened some more. So Izuku spent the day taking notes and absentmindedly doodling his new friend in his notebook. He hoped she was doing well with whatever idea she had.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today went about as well as Izuku could expect. He was pretty sure his clothes were still smoking from the places Kacchan had grabbed him. Fortunately, while Kacchan had singed his clothes and he was pretty sure he'd have some bruises, his childhood friend had apparently had better things to do than continue trying to coerce him out of going to U.A. again.

 

He walked home without any issues which was nice after the day's... excitement. When he got home he found Reimu having tea with his mother. The girl had a small smirk as she finished telling a story to his mom who, considering her giggling, seemed to be much more relaxed than she was the previous day.

 

Izuku sat down at the table with them and the two greeted him. After some small talk between the three Reimu turned to Izuku.

 

“By the way Izuku,” Reimu began, “since you're just starting out and don't know anyone from Gensokyo Yukari wanted me to help you choose who to work with. Anything you're working towards in the near future?”

 

“Ah? Well there is the U.A. entrance exam for next year I guess.”

 

“Really? Know anything about it?”

 

“Not much… I know that each of the divisions have a written portion and at least the heroics and support divisions have a practical portion, though presumably it's not the same test.”

 

Reimu looked thoughtful, “What division are you hoping for? I don't know much about this world's schooling, most of the kids in Gensokyo end up going through one of Keine's classes at some point or another. But that's the only school in Gensokyo so...” She trailed off before shrugging

 

“I've always wanted to be a Pro Hero so the heroics division would be my top choice.”

 

Reimu looks a bit confused at the term before shrugging it off, “I take it that the practical exam for that would likely be something physical?” Izuku nodded, “Have you done any preparations for it?” The awkward look on his face and his silence was all the answer she needed, “In that case I would recommend the Scarlet Devil Mansion's Gatekeeper, Hong Meiling.”

 

“She might be utterly useless at Danmaku-” At Izuku's confused look she sighed and elaborated, “It's how we settle conflicts in Gensokyo without having to deal with any of the heavy hitters actually destroying things. Special bullet patterns that sting when they hit but don't cause any actual harm to other people or the surroundings. Anyway. While she's useless at that she's an expert in a lot of styles of Martial arts and I've seen her teaching some kids as well as a few of the fairies and younger youkai near the mansion.”

 

“I see. That sounds like a good idea then.” Izuku agreed.

 

Reimu nodded and tapped her orb a few times, “Yukari? You there? When you get the chance bring Meiling over here alright?” She then turned back to Izuku, “And now we wait.”

 

After about five minutes Yukari walked in from the Kitchen, followed by a girl with long red hair, blue eyes, a green beret with a gold star on the front, as well as a green vest and green long-split skirt.

 

The girl smiled brightly before bowing deeply and introducing herself, “It's nice to meet you, my name is Hong Meiling. Mistress Remilia sends her greetings and I hope we can get along.”

 

“I-it's nice to meet you.” Izuku and Inko both bowed in return

 

“Couldn't you just come in through the gap you left in his closet?” Reimu pointed out. “What would be the fun in that?” Yukari smiled mischievously before turning to Izuku and Meiling, “Right then! Time to get you two set up so I can go.”

 

She quickly pulled Izuku through the process before nodding with a smile and saying farewell.

 

Reimu sighed in exasperation, “Well I've probably been here long enough for today. I have some errands to do and I need to make sure my food's still there.” The Miko waved goodbye as she left.

 

As Reimu leaves, Meiling is quick to turn her full attention to Izuku, giving another friendly smile before asking, “So do you know anywhere we can go to see what I have to work with?”

 

“There's a forest near here, it's where I first met Miss Hakurei, there's also a park, and I guess there's that beach with a lot of junk on it.”

 

Meiling hummed for a second, “Forest would probably be best. We need somewhere discreet and preferably not potentially dangerous, lead the way!”

 

Izuku blinked, “Eh? Now?”

 

“No time like the present, I'll bring him back later Ma'am.” She cheered, waving at Inko before ushering him outside.

 

 

The older Midoriya watched the two go before smiling and cleaning up the table. She'd never seen her son surrounded by such energetic and friendly people before!

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a casual stroll the two were able to reach a clearing in the forest before Meiling whirled towards Izuku, once again beaming.

 

“Alright kid! We're going to do some warmups and then several tests to see where you are. If you get tired tell me, alright? It won't do any good if you end up overworking yourself.”

 

Izuku nodded absently before beginning to follow her through several stretches.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meiling groaned to herself, she'd noticed that the kid had not, in fact, been telling her when he was getting tired during the first exercise. She'd let him continue until he seemed like he was about to keel over before stopping for a quick rest. If she couldn't get him to be honest about his limits she'd just have to make note of them herself. She'd give him a firm lecture at the end. Meant she couldn't doze while doing the exercises but that's fine.

The Mistress had seemed pretty interested in the whole thing. Especially if Remilia was willing to have fairies fill in for Meiling at the gate for several hours each day. Considering how quickly she'd agreed to the deal it seemed to Meiling that she must have had some kind of premonition about it. Otherwise there would have been a lot more posturing. Speaking of posturing, her grin turned a bit more menacing, this kid could probably use a lesson on respecting his limits.           

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything hurt. Izuku found himself flopped on the ground after all the different exercises he was lead through. He looked at Meiling who did not appear winded at all before he asked, panting from exhaustion, “H-how… many more… exercises are there... in the test?”

 

The Gatekeeper squatted down in front of him and gave him a smirk, “Oh those were done quite a while ago. I figured I'd just let you keep going until you couldn't anymore since you were so adamant about ignoring your limits.”

 

Izuku flushed in embarrassment.

 

“Seriously kid, don't try to outlast the person testing you. I've got a couple centuries more experience than you and I'm a youkai – there's no way you'd be able to outlast me. Anyway despite your best efforts I did manage to get a baseline.” She picked him up and slung him over her shoulder before beginning to walk back to his house, “We'll let you rest for today, tomorrow since Yukari mentioned it we'll work on abilities and the day after we'll start on exercise.”

 

When they arrived Izuku was an embarrassed mess. While other people couldn't see Meiling, they could see him floating in the air like an exhausted sack of potatoes. He tuned out Meiling talking to his mother about food or something and walked to the couch before crashing. At some point he heard Yukari's voice but he was too tired to listen or react. Hopefully the aches would be gone by tomorrow.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They were not gone. They were worse. Izuku could only thank whatever deities were out there that it was not a school day.

 

“Hey kid, you alive?” Ah, that was Meiling.

 

Izuku gave a pained groan in reply.

 

“Well hopefully that will teach you to listen when someone tells you to be careful of your limits. Luckily for you today we're going to be doing the non-physical part of the training today… As soon as Yukari gets here.”

 

With that he was lifted and placed at the table. Meiling was holding an animated conversation with his mother while the two cooked breakfast and before he knew it he found food in front of him. It was gone shortly after and while he felt full he couldn't actually remember how it tasted.

 

It took another hour for Yukari to arrive. The two youkai seemed to discuss something before Yukari nodded and walked over to him.

 

Izuku looked at her as she approached and tapped him on the forehead. Then he felt… something. It was a strange feeling, almost like a lock opening or a river starting to flow through him. He blinked in confusion before looking back at Yukari.

 

She had a sheepish expression as she stated, “It was brought to my attention that my… schedule… might make it difficult to be here whenever I'm needed so I've tweaked a few boundaries so you won't have to wait for me whenever you need to bind someone,” Her face turned serious and she gripped his shoulder tightly, “Just don't try anything new without running it by me first. Got it?”

 

Izuku nodded franticly before letting out a quiet “Yes Ma'am.”

 

Yukari smiled and ruffled his hair before standing back up. “In that case I'll walk you through the process a few times before I go.”

 

Once Izuku had memorized the process Yukari was quick to leave with a yawn and a wave while Meiling prepared for the next part of her training plan.

 

“We're going to practice your ability to use my power, Qi manipulation, today.”

 

Izuku quickly sat at attention, ready to take notes.

 

“For today we're going to stick to the more passive aspect, since you aren't used to it I've been holding it back so I'm going to let it go now alright?”

 

Izuku nodded, and then he felt a stinging sensation. It was like opening his eyes to bright light after being in complete darkness. He could _feel_ life force around him. His Mother, going through the motions of cleaning in the other room, Meiling's raw power and vigilance next to him, different people walking peacefully, a few houses down two people filled with- it cut out and the stinging sensation vanished. Meiling coughed in embarrassment. “I might need to work on filtering things if there are that many people nearby.”

 

The rest of the day was spent practicing peacefully.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The next week was filled with varying types of training for Izuku, Flexibility, Martial Arts, Strength training, and 'quirk' training for lack of a better term. In his excitement and determination, he tried to push ahead of the schedule Meiling made for him while she wasn't there. This quickly proved to be a mistake as she noticed almost immediately. That day was changed to sparring and Izuku was fairly sure he'd ended up eating dirt in a larger variety of ways than he'd ever thought possible. How many types of throws and trips could one person perform?

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Tatara Kogasa seemed to be glowing with happiness as she walked through the human village in Gensokyo. She'd made a friend, surprised someone enough to fill her stomach for a while, and she was going to do her best to make him a present!

“Who knows maybe what that girl said will actually become true~” She giggled to herself

 

She'd finally managed to buy the perfect metal for her gift, now she just needed to get to the village's forge. The Hakurei shrine maiden seemed to have liked the needles she'd made for her… Kogasa shuddered at the memory. Rather than paying for the needles Reimu'd decided to use them to chase Kogasa away… But surely this time would go better! She'd just need to… make sure her gift wasn't sharp… at all… And not try to sell things to the Shrine maiden ever again. Definitely not.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I'm back!” A loud cheer of excitement woke Izuku up a few weeks after he was punished for overworking himself.

 

He groggily got out of bed and rubbed his eyes before looking towards the voice, “Kogasa?”

 

“Oh! Right! Time difference! Sorry, I finally finished and got really excited...” The Karakasa blushed in embarrassment.

 

“It's… it's really good to see you but it's four in the morning.”

 

“Ah yes… Maybe go back to sleep…. I'll go wait in the main room.”

 

“For two hours?”

 

Kogasa tutted, “That's nothing! Do you know how long it takes for something to actually become a Tsukumogami? A hundred years!” Despite her boastful tone Izuku felt something cold and heavy settle in his stomach.

 

“Well I'm up now. It shouldn't be any trouble if I just start my day now.”

 

“Really? Great! Here!”  Kogasa flicked the lights on before she presented a small box to him, eyes alight with excitement.

 

Izuku took the box gently and opened it. Inside he found an ornate hairpin. It seemed to be a replica of Kogasa's umbrella – eye, mouth, and all.

 

Kogasa started to chatter excitedly while he continued to inspect the pin, “It took a while to find the specific metal I needed since I had to get it from the Tengu village on Youkai mountain and despite the fact that a bunch of them are all about selling newspapers they really don't like outsiders around there village – talk about hypocritical right? - anyway, despite the fact she's absolutely terrifying I managed to talk Miss Kochiya into getting them to let me in by trading her some batteries I got from Nazrin after I helped her get the Pagoda away from Rumia by giving her some lamprey I got from Mystia in exchange for a favor she owed me from when I...” Izuku had to stop his admiration of the pin to wonder how she ended up on such a ridiculous fetch quest. “… that I managed to grab while dodging that Jiang shi during that incident with all the Divine spirits a few years back. Anyway this metal's really cool! It reacts to Youkai power – and stores it – and changes how it looks based on what Youkai's power it's sensing. It took a while to get samples from everyone I could think of but I think I managed it quite well~”

 

“It's amazing!” Izuku said with awe

 

Kogasa nodded with glee, before her expression shifted closer to worry, “Just… Don't let Reimu see it,” She hestitated a bit before continuing, “She got angry when I tried to give her the bill when I made new needles for her a while ago and I think she might go after me if she hears I made you something for free. Especially something with this metal”

 

“Because it's expensive?” Kogasa only hummed in response before Izuku continued, “I'll keep it away from her then.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two grinned at each other before Izuku excused himself to get ready for his day.

 

 

About two hours later Meiling stepped out of Izuku's room to find Izuku and Kogasa playing Old Maid.

 

“I got the day off today so I figured I'd stick with you.” She grinned, “Hello Kogasa, thank you again for helping Sakuya with the clothes.”

 

“Always happy to do business with the Scarlet Devil Mansion! You guys pay really well~”

 

The rest of the morning was spent with the three happily talking before Izuku had to leave for school, Meiling following shortly behind.

 

“Ah that's a neat Pin! Did Kogasa make it for you? It looks like the star on my hat.”

 

Izuku looked at the, now star shaped, pin “Yeah, it sounded like she worked really hard on it.”

 

The rest of the trip passed in companionable silence.

 

Meiling quietly observed his day at school, frowning at the hidden sneers and rudeness from his classmates and the Teacher ignoring them. Meanwhile Izuku busied himself taking notes while simultaneously practicing Meiling's Qi manipulation. It was interesting to be able to tell how many people were skipping class and where they were, and how they felt, he could only imagine the variety of ways it could be used for hero work. Though as the classes wore on he had to push the ability to the back of his mind to fully focus on his notes.

 

The end of the school day came slowly, but he'd made it through another day, thankfully without having to deal with Kacchan's demands.

 

He walked through the halls, humming to himself with Meiling by his side, He began to turn towards her to ask about their plans for the day when-

 

HOSTILITY

 

-Someone reached to grab his shoulder, despite knowing they weren't practicing his body moved on muscle memory, grabbing the arm and heaving it over himself in a throw, he looked at the person in question and-

 

“Kacchan?”

 

The two could only stare wide eyed at each other as Katsuki found himself slammed to the ground.

 

Dead silence. For a few seconds no one seemed willing to breathe, let alone say anything.

 

Then Meiling started to laugh which snapped Izuku out of his shock.

 

“I'm really sorry Kacchan! I didn't mean to I just did it automatically and I'm so sorry areyouokletmehelpyouup!” He reached forward to grab his friend's hand when Kacchan's energy was suddenly filled with hostility once again. Izuku barely managed to leap back as the other boy let loose a large explosion.

 

“Deeeeeekuuuuu.” He growled, voice filled with malice, “I'LL KILL YOU!”

 

The blonde bomber jumped to his feet and charged Izuku, his tagalongs leaping out of his way in reasonable panic.

 

Izuku could only squeak in terror and duck for cover as the larger boy charged him. This was apparently the correct move as Katsuki flew directly over him and had to turn himself around, at which point Izuku had already started sprinting away.

 

Unfortunately for Izuku, while he had gotten stronger and faster, his newfound speed was no match for the explosion propelled Kacchan and he quickly found himself slammed to the floor with Kacchan's full weight on top of him. He quickly found that there was no way to claw his way out as he felt himself being flipped over to face the other boy. If looks could kill Izuku was pretty sure he'd be dead right now.

 

Kacchan raised his fist and all Izuku could do was try – unsuccessfully – to protect his head with his arms before blows began to rain on him

 

Izuku couldn't make out anything of the enraged rant directed at him, too dazed from the repeated blows to think.

 

Eventually Kacchan stopped, apparently having worked out some of his anger before slapping the dazed boy back to focus.

 

“Get it through your thick skull loser. You'll never amount to anything. You can't beat me and you'll never be a hero. You're useless.”

 

Izuku could only dazedly stare back at him tears starting to well up.

 

“What the hell is that?” Kacchan had apparently noticed the pin in Izuku's hair and Izuku's vision snapped into focus as he saw the look on the other boy's face as he reached for it.

 

The same face he had when he'd destroyed Izuku's notebook. He couldn’t let that happen again!

 

His head started to feel fuzzy…

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bakugou Katsuki was pissed.

 

The damn nerd refused to listen to him and now he has the audacity to try and defend himself? Clearly He’d been too lenient with the piece of shit and now he had to show him his place once again.

 

Clearly he hadn’t gotten the message from the journal and now he was wearing some stupid ornament in his hair. Guess that would have to –

 

Before he could register what was happening Deku had ripped his hands from Katsuki’s grasp and punched him. The shock of this was only the beginning as he suddenly found himself going limp.

 

He couldn’t move. He could barely breath. And Deku just shoved him off and to the ground before grabbing his collar and forcing him to look. There was no evidence of the nervous little shit he was used to dealing with in those eyes. Normally they were just as annoyingly green as the rest of him but now they seemed to be swirling with a furious red completely overtaking the pupil and swirling through the remaining green of the iris.

 

“ ** _Bakugou,_** ” Deku hissed at him. Bakugou would have flinched if he could, but since he couldn’t all he managed to do was flick his eyes away from the swirling pools of hatred. He caught a blue glow from the damn star before he was shaken, “ **Look at me while I’m talking to you.** ”

 

“ **I’ve put up with a lot from you. All your bullying, that nickname, your awful attitude in general. I could deal with all of that- and I have. But I will not tolerate you breaking my things. Not anymore. Someone worked very hard to make this for me and, _You. Will. Not. Touch. It._ If you even think of doing that again I will make sure you regret ever having met me. _DO YOU UNDERSTAND?_** ”

 

Katsuki could only stare, still unable to move as whatever monster had possessed Deku glared at him. All he could feel was some primal fear building up inside him.

 

The _monster_ smirked at him “ **Good. I’m glad we had this talk.** ” He felt himself drop to the floor as he was released, still unable to move, as the creature turned and began walking away “ **Now that that’s over with I’** m going home. You should be able to move again soon Kacchan. Just, please leave me alone.” He staggered off, leaving Katsuki lying on the floor.

 

Katsuki never wanted to feel this helpless again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meiling's ability is Usage of Qi. 
> 
> One of my favorite versions of how she uses this (in fan works) is as life detection, covering the entirety of the scarlet devil mansion so she can stop any intruders without actually having to look for them.
> 
> Next chapter if/when I get to it would be the entrance exam.


	4. Deal with a Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kogasa's got some explaining to do, Izuku goes to a party full of rowdy drunks, and eventually works out an agreement with a short Devil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I was planning to have this chapter go all the way to the results of the Entrance exam, but when I got to the current point it seemed like a good ending place.
> 
> I did mention updates would be erratic but I still apologize for the delay.
> 
> As a side note I probably won't be putting art in chapters unless I think of something I really want to draw.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Once the fuzzy feeling in his head faded the first thing Izuku could remember was being draped over Meiling – she’d told him her workplace was on a first name basis and she was unused to responding to Hong – as she walked him out of the school. It probably looked strange but Izuku was too busy trying to remember what happened to give it much thought. He’d thrown Kacchan, then ran, then Kacchan caught him and started hitting him… Then started reaching for his pin, and then things started getting fuzzy. Izuku’d pushed Kacchan off him right? Then he’d asked him to leave him alone… and it worked? That didn’t sound right… but he couldn’t think of any other way he hadn’t ended up in the infirmary.  
Once he’d regained his bearings Meiling took a second to make sure he could stand before letting him stand on his own.

“You alright kid?” 

Izuku hummed, “I think so? Honestly I just want to sleep right now.”

Meiling nodded, “Probably a good idea. I’m going to need to talk to Kogasa after we get back.”  
The rest of the walk home was spent in silence

As they opened the door they were ambushed by Kogasa’s cheerful “Welcome Back! How was your- erk!- “she was cut off as Meiling caught her, looping her arm around the Tsukumogami’s neck. 

“Kogasa! I need to talk to you about something,” Meiling’s smile did not contain any of its usual warmth and Kogasa looked worried before she was dragged off by the redhead.

While he was worried for his friend he figured Meiling wouldn’t do anything extreme to her and went straight to bed.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“So. Do you want to tell me why the kid ended up giving off a Youkai vibe or do you want me to guess?” Meiling asked the quivering Tsukumogami. 

Kogasa’s eyes shifted around looking for an escape “I h-have noooo idea what you’re talki-iiiieeek!” She flinched as the grip on her arm strengthened and she found no possible escape path.

“Ok ok!” Kogasa wilted before she began to ramble, “I may have put a liiiiittle too much energy into the charm while working on it but it shouldn’t have any adverse effects or anything and it’s not like there’s enough faith in that world for it to actually do anything irreversible even if there was enough energy to cause any long term changes… I just figured something that could store energy would be useful for him since he’s probably going to be working with a lot of the heavy hitters. I mean Miss Yukari’s already invested in him and I’m pretty sure it’s only a matter of time before Shameimaru tries to interview him and your boss actually decided to ask me about him a few days ago so I just figured having an extra store of energy would be helpful you know?”

Meiling gave her a blank look before sighing and shaking her head, “Fair enough I suppose. Just make sure to keep an eye on your handicraft. It seemed to affect him earlier today and I’d rather not have that happen again.”

Kogasa gave her a confused look but nodded, “What exactly happened?”

Meiling took a deep breath before explaining the incident to the smaller girl.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The next day was quiet. Bakugou had glared at him but stayed far away from Izuku, much to the shorter boy’s confusion.

Most days he worked with Meiling, though whenever the weather was bad he’d pair up with Kogasa (even after a few of his classmates had made snide remarks about the umbrella).  
One day, about two months after his last encounter with Bakugou, He returned home to find Reimu drumming her fingers on the table while glancing around the room. As he closed the door she looked towards him, “So apparently Yukari’s decided to hold a meet and greet at my shrine since we’ve been doing this for a few months now,” She paused to think before looking at him again, “How are you with sake?”

“I’m not old enough to drink.”

She froze and stared at him with a mixture of confusion and slight horror, “What do you mean you can’t drink?”

“I’m underage. You have to be 20 to legally drink alcohol in Japan.”

Her expression shifted fully to horror as she continued to stare before she shook her head, "I hope you're good at refusing pushy people then."

Before she dragged him through the gap, Reimu dropped a note on the table and placed a bottle of sake on top of it.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
As the two stepped through the gap Izuku could hear plenty of laughing and cheering from outside the shrine.

“Sounds like they already started,” Reimu sighed.

A chuckle came from the left, “Wha’d you expect? ‘Snot often everyone’s actually invited by the Hakurei shrine maiden.” The girl slurred.

Izuku turned to look, the girl was short though the twisting horns on her head reached up to his chin. She had ginger hair and twinkling brown eyes, a red bow sat between her horns while a blue ribbon was tied to the tip of the left one. She wore a white shirt with torn off sleeves, decorated with another red bow and held to her waist by a belt covered with several chains. Below the belt was a blue skirt with a white line near the end as well as several characters dotted around it. She swung a small purple gourd by a string as she looked Izuku up and down with a cocky grin.

“This the kid Yukari’s been chatterin’ about? He’s kind of scrawny.”

“Yep.” Reimu popped the p, “Now why don’t you go outside and gather everyone together for introductions.”

The girl giggled again while grinning like the Cheshire cat. “Sure, sure, I’ll go do that. Pleasure to meet you ‘Zuku, name’s Suika Ibuki,” She popped the top off her gourd before taking a swig and holding it out in offering to him. The stench of alcohol hit him and before he could say anything Reimu spun the smaller girl around and ushered her out.

“They’re all very…” Reimu hesitated as she decided on the word, “Colorful people. None of them will hurt you here so have some fun ok?” And with that she pushed him out the door into the waiting mob of youkai.

The first few minutes were a blur of introductions, before the mob eventually ran out and everyone went back to drinking merrily, though he could still feel their gazes on him. Surprisingly enough, he didn’t see Meiling, or anyone matching her description of the Scarlet Devil Mansion’s staff or owner.

“Excuse me,” One of the Youkai called from the side, “Since everyone’s gotten to do their introductions now I was hoping I could interview you.”

Izuku blinked in surprise and turned toward her. The girl, who he recognized as the one at the very front of the mob – Shameimaru Aya – was noticibly taller than him. A small red hat sat on top of her head with six fluffy balls hanging from two strings – Three balls to a side. Her short black hair framed her probing red eyes as she grinned almost ferally at him. Her shirt was rather simple – White with a black trim and ribbons – while the colors were reversed for her skirt. A camera was hung around her neck and he could see some kind of hilt strapped to her side. In one hand she held a notepad and the other a pen. 

“Ah, yes, I guess that woul-” he paused as he saw her shoes. Red, like his sneakers, Geta with a single tooth that probably made up the entirety of their height difference. The myths he’d read recently while trying to study youkai brought to mind a single type. Tengu.

Izuku immediately went ramrod straight, “C-certainly M-Miss Shameimaru!”

“Ooh someone with actual manners! My, how rare!” Her grin widened before she refocused on her task, “Anyway~ Questions for our dear Ambassador~”

“Ambassador?”

“Eh," She shrugged, "Yukari started calling you that after no one responded to any of her jokes. Not important. Questions! So we’ve all heard from Yukari that your name is Izuku Midoriya, Kogasa mentioned you like analyzing quirks as well as explained what those are, and we’ve heard from Reimu that apparently you’re trying to be a Pro Hero… So can you tell our readers more about that?” Izuku could almost hear the hunger in her voice as she started to question him.

“Well Pro heroes are people who are licensed to use their quirks in order to rescue others as well as fight villains. I really admire All Might He’s been the number 1 hero in the rankings since shortly after his debut! He’s so cool and he’s always reassuring people whenever he arrives with his smile and declarations and-” Izuku continued to chatter away as Aya jotted down everything he said. She chimed in with a clarifying question occasionally which would lead on another tangent until he’d reached the end of his spiel. 

Izuku blinked before blushing in embarrassment, “Sorry, I tend to talk too much when it comes to Heroes.”  
The Reporter grinned, “Not at all! That was very informative. Thank you very much. I’m sure everyone will love to learn about this. Now then, you ever meet any non-Gensokyian Youkai? We get a few coming in here and there, now that you’ve met a few can you tell if you’ve met any without going through Yukari?”  
Izuku paused to think, could anyone he knows be a youkai? Whatever would seem like a quirk could just as easily be a Youkai fitting in… Could Kacchan be a youkai? His followers? What about the teachers? Or one of his other classmates? There was that one guy who was made of rocks… What about one of the Pro heroes he’s seen? Kamui Woods hero name could be supernaturally based…

Aya poked him, “Uh… Kid? If you don’t know any that’s fine. I was just curious.”

Izuku’s head jerked towards her in surprise. “Ah right sorry. Not sure if I’ve seen any but I’ll keep an eye out.”

The Tengu nodded slowly before smiling once again, “Alright. How about food and alcohol? Got any favorites?”

Izuku smiled guiltily, “My favorite food is Katsudon. I’m too young to drink in Japan.”

Aya dropped her pen. Izuku was suddenly very aware he could hear it hit the ground.

“So… Like you can just drink beer right?” He heard someone say, though he couldn’t make out who.  
He shook his head, “No, you can’t legally drink any alcohol in Japan until you’re 20.”

Once again dead silence. Izuku thought he saw a cricket start to chirp but it was glared down by a small green haired girl with Antennae –Wriggle Nightbug, if he remembered her introduction correctly.  
He felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder and he swallowed loudly.

“We need to fix this!” The girl –Suika- cheered loudly to the agreement of the rest of the mob.

“No no no really it’s fine. Besides it’s illegal so I really shouldn’t.” He panicked

“Y’er government has no influence here, it’ll be fine!” The pushy girl grinned while pulling him down to sit.

“It’s still not right to just dodge around the spirit of the law like that and I-” He was shut up by Suika’s gourd being shoved in his mouth.

The girl refused to remove her gourd until he’d taken a swig. 

Izuku let out a hacking cough as soon as he was released from the small Oni’s grasp. She guffawed at his reaction as she gave him a slap on the back, almost sending the green haired boy sprawling, “Guess it’s too much fer you right now, maybe next time!” She snickered.

After a few more coughs he looked up to see Reimu shrugging almost apologetically while the rest of the party grinned and cheered. 

The party continued and Izuku couldn’t keep the excitement out of his eyes. It was like an unending stream of newly debuted heroes to analyze the quirks of. And they were all happy to show off their powers to him and most were happy to answer his questions on how they worked. From the Ice fairy (Cirno he recalled) showing off her freezing prowess, to Aya whipping up a small whirlwind, to Suika tossing out a bunch of miniature versions of herself and doing some ridiculous drunken dance, and so many others!

And then someone picked a fight. He wasn’t sure who started it but the result was what could only be described as the most amazing firework show he had ever seen. Glowing balls of- Magic? Energy? He wasn’t sure he was just glad they weren’t aimed at him- flew through the sky, coloring the night with fantastic patterns. The orbs fizzled with power to the beat of one of the fighter’s – he double checked his notes, Horikawa Reiko, Taiko drum tsukomogami, ability on the level of making anything follow a rhythm – drums.

After a few hours the party began to wind down as the guests began to drift away.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
With only two weeks left before the Entrance exams Izuku was ready to use the morning to try and figure out who to take with him, Reimu was in the kitchen rummaging through the food while she waited for his decision. Kogasa’s power wouldn’t be particularly useful in any kind of practical the school would host, Meiling had mentioned that she would be busy during the time the Exam took place so he couldn’t work with her. He did meet a lot of people at the party and he could probably get one of them to help – he reached for his notebook only to jerk back in surprise when he noticed someone unfamiliar waiting to the side.

The girl – Lady? She looked at least a few years older than him, though considering his recent company that wasn’t a sure sign of anything – stood to his left patiently waiting for his attention, silver hair stopping just below her chin with two braids extending to her chest tied with small green ribbons, blue eyes met his and her outfit could only be described as a stereotypical maid outfit in blue and white rather than black and white.

Noting that she had his attention she curtsied before she began to speak, “Good morning Izuku Midoriya. I am Sakuya Izayoi and I am here to inform you that milady Remilia Scarlet shall be stopping by shortly to speak with you,” She paused for a moment before giving a small smile, “I am sorry for the short notice, if you don’t mind I’ll tidy up a bit.” 

Izuku blinked and the house suddenly looked a lot cleaner than it had a second ago. He started to open his mouth to ask how when the door to his bedroom was kicked off its hinges and smashed into the wall across from its frame.

“…Well that was a lot flimsier than I expected.”

The girl standing in the – now empty - door frame wore a frilly pink mob cap with a small red ribbon decorating the side, short blue hair poked from beneath her hat as red eyes widened in surprise before flickering to him and sharpening. Her dress was frilly and pink with a large red ribbon around the waist and red trim around the bottom. Large batlike wings protruded from beneath the dress as she folded them in and stepped through the doorway.

“I hope you’re planning to fix that” Reimu called while leaving the kitchen.

The blue haired girl jumped at Reimu’s interjection before straightening, “Ah, yes of course. Sakuya, if you would.”

The maid sighed, “I’ll fetch Kogasa,” before leaving the room.

Izuku thought he saw a faint smirk on her face before she redirected her full attention to him with a broad, almost hungry, grin.

She twisted to the side while bringing both hands to point towards Izuku. Her eyes twinkled with mirth as she began to speak, “You are the one Yukari made that deal with yes? Izuku Midoriya of the outside world. I-” she was promptly hit by a piece of whatever Reimu was eating… Pocky? 

“No one gets your references Remilia, so knock off the high and mighty whatever you’re doing and get to the point.”

Remilia clicked her tongue before replying, “Fiiiiiine. Honestly you’re no fun at all Reimu. It’s been years since I was in the outside world.”

Izuku blinked in surprise at the change in tone, “So what did you want to talk about Miss Scarlet?”

“Lady Scarlet” she interjected before smiling again, “Or Mistress Scarlet if you’d prefer. In any case, it’s unfortunate that it’s taken this long to meet. I have been lending you my Gatekeeper for several months and it’s such shock we weren’t able to meet until now!”

“You told me you were saving the meeting so you could find the best way to show off your ‘charismatic’ side” Reimu drawled

This time Remilia flushed before glaring at Reimu “You weren’t supposed to tell him that!” she whined.

“ –ku’s door?”

Izuku half turned towards the source of the noise spotting Kogasa looking at the mess before jotting down a list of materials for Sakuya who nodded and vanished.

“As I was saying.” Remilia drew attention back to herself, “I wanted to propose a deal for your upcoming exams. You see there’s a certain book series I’ve fallen behind on due to Gensokyo’s…” she paused to think of a word, “struggle to stock new literature. It’s truly unfortunate but we tend not to get books until they’ve fallen out of favor in the outside world and for reasons both exciting and vexing I have been unable to gain access to any of the series aside from the first part, which I had managed to come across before arriving in Gensokyo. In exchange for the Scarlet Devil Mansion’s support with your exams I would like you to purchase the second part of the series for me. I believe Yukari has set up some finances for any expenses coming from our side of the barrier yes?” At his nod she continued, “so at just the cost of a bit of your time I will provide you with the perfect partner for your test.”

Izuku blinked, that would definitely save a lot of trouble in making a choice. The timing seemed almost suspicious but considering all the people he’d met from Gensokyo that might just be par for the course. He could probably use this time to meet with the other residents of Gensokyo again and get to know them and build connections. He might even end up with the same partner without the deal she was offering. There wasn’t really any reason to accept, though he could probably still work on getting her whatever book she was talking about. Though that does bring up the question of why she’d chosen to only now meet up and make the deal when she’d had several months of opportunity to do so. Meiling seemed to trust her so that was a positive, though she did kick down his door for no reason. That really is an issue actually. While he didn’t know how old she was, accidentally kicking a door off its hinges seems strange. Would they really make doors that much sturdier in Gensokyo? From what he’d seen of the shrine that seemed unlikely... Unless it was meant to do something el-

“That is a lovely hair clip by the way Izuku.” The blue haired devil in front of him chimed in, breaking his line of murmured thoughts. He saw her eyes flick between Reimu, who was only paying half attention to their conversation, and Kogasa and OH. That’s why she did it.  
She smirked at him. Eyes almost – no actually they really were glowing slightly as she watched him like a cat toying with a mouse.

Kogasa did mention that Reimu had not been happy with the cost of the work she’d done. Hearing that someone else got work from her for free probably would not end well for the poor Umbrella youkai. And it’s not like he could hide it without looking extremely suspicious… She really wasn’t planning on letting him have a choi-  
She giggled at him, before bursting into full blown laughter. Reimu looked at her for a second before shrugging and turning away and the small girl started to calm down.  
“My apologies,” she said through the last of her giggles, “I just do so love to stack the odds~. Rest assured I won’t get anyone in trouble with the shrine maiden regardless of whether or not you agree. Besides, she’s far too useful to get on her bad side for something this small.”

Izuku gave a small half nod.

Remilia gave a soft smile and changed the subject, bringing out the first issue of the series she’d mentioned. It was a well-worn manga in English – though she assured him she could read Japanese – he noted the title and listened as she excitedly summarized the part she’d read before complaining about how no one in Gensokyo had heard about it and the one time she’d gotten the chance to use a line from it- 

“Seriously! Who actually keeps track of how many times they’ve eaten bread? Honestly that was probably the most irritating thing that damn Witch did. Stopping my mist? Fine I can go out with a parasol. Stealing from Patchy? She’s basically memorized that whole library and I know for a fact that Witch actually does bring the books back she just finds it fun to bother Patchy.” Remilia huffed and pouted at the end of her rant.

Izuku laughed at her apparent irritation. He saw her lips quirk up in a smile before she returned to the original subject matter.

“So will you agree to the deal? It should prove amusing for both sides,” She extended her hand  
He smiled, she might be heavy handed but she didn’t seem to really mean any harm, “I would be happy to.” 

The two shook before Remilia stood up and stretched, “Excellent! I should probably get going then. I’ll bring your partner along tomorrow, I need to catch up on some sleep.” She curtsied and left passing Kogasa and Sakuya who were finishing up with replacing the door.

The rest of the day passed peacefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of people were mentioned but since he didn't actually channel anyone I won't explain them here, other than Sakuya since I decided he's not going to be channeling any of the human characters.
> 
> Sakuya's power is the ability to manipulate time. She can stop it, slow it, speed it up, overlay it, and make it her bitch in any way other than reversing it. Also extends to spacial manipulation which she mostly uses to make the SDM bigger.
> 
> Her eyes (among other things) seem to vary based on the game she's in so I just stuck with blue.
> 
> Edit: Also I forgot to mention: Making people drink when they don't want to is bad. Don't do it.
> 
> As for Remilia's 'mystery' manga. That'll definitely be revealed next chapter but I would like to hear any guesses anyone has on it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I hope you've enjoyed the story so far!
> 
> I'd like to thank one of my friends for helping to proofread.


End file.
